Trolley pole actuator



Aug. 26, 1941. I DAv| 2,253,767

TROLLEY POLE ACTUATOR Filed April 15, 1939 4 Sheets-Shet 1 4, 2o ZQL:

l Y 1 27A INVENTOR THOMAS EDAV/ES ATTORNEY Aug. 26, 1941. T. E. 'DAVlES TROLLEY POLE ACTUATOR Filed April 15, 1 959 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Figll.

INVENTOVR THO/m5 E. DAV/5. BY

ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Shet 3 it w ATTORNEY Aug. 26, 1941. T. E. DAVIES I I TROLLEY POLE ACTUATOR Filed April 15, 1939 INVENTOR THOMAS E. DAV/E5 Aug. 26, 1941. T. E. DAVIES TROLLEY POLE ACTUATOR Filed April 15, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR THOMAS E. DAV/ES ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 26, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Thomas E. Davies, Nemacolin, Pa.

Application April 15, 1939, Serial No. 268,045

4 Claims.

My invention relates to an actuator for a trolley pole which receives electrical energy from a trolley wire for propelling a vehicle equipped with said pole.

The main object of this invention is to save life and limb, and protect physical property, which is accomplished by providing means whereby the trolley wheel'or shoe carried by the pole will be held in engagement with the overhead feed wire for normal operation and remove it from the wire upon disruption of the current supply, thus preventing damage should it accidentally leave the wire.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a current collector which can be manually actuated or raised to the operative position and electrically retained, and will then be auto matically released or retrieved from said operating position, when the collector is disengaged from the trolley wire conductor or when the current supplied .to the conductor is interrupted.

A further object is to provide means for the normal operation of the trolley pole in the event the automatic means for providing the safety features outlined herein become damaged or incapacitated in any way.

A still further object is to provide an electromagnetic actuator capable of stressing a heavy spring which maintains the trolley pole in operating position. Since this requires a current of high amperage a further object of the invention is to provide means for automatically materially reducing the current after the spring has been placed under tension.

These objects are obtained by the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which 1 Figure 1 is a vertical elevational view of the actuator, base for mounting the trolley pole, and the lower end portion of the trolley pole, shown patrially in section;

Fig. 2 is a detailed section on an enlarged scale of the portion of Fig, 1 indicated by line 2-2;

Fig. 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of Fig. 1 along line 3 -3;

Fig. 4 likewise is a section, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of Fig. 1;

Fig 5 is an elevation partly in cross section, of a complete trolley pole to be carried by the actuator shown in Fig, 1, oriented 90, however, it is shown on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 6' is a sectional view of Fig. 1 along the lines 6-6; e

Fig. '7 is the elevation in section on an enlarged scale illustrating principally. the portion of Fig. 1 not shown in section;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the operating link in Fig. 7 along line 8-8;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a portion of Fig. '7 'along line 9-9;

Fig. 10 is a schematic arrangement of the trolley pole, trolley wire conductor, trolley pole actuator, land the electric circuit for activating the actuator;

Fig, 11 is an outline drawing to represent a locomotive equipped with the actuator and trolley pole as used on electric railways in mining operations;

Fig, 12 is an elevation generally in cross section of the actuators and portions of the trolley pole, as shown in Figs. 1 and '7, however, the moving parts are in inactive or normally rest position;

Fig. 13 is an elevation of a modified embodiment of the inventionshown generally in sectional elevation, the plunger being in the activated position.

Numeral l5 designates generally the trolley pole consisting of a section of insulating mater al |6 equipped at the upper end with a trolley wheel trolley wheel carrier l8, while the lower end IGA, of said'insulating material I6, is secured to metallic sleeve I9, which in turn is disposed in clamping socket 20, the latter being provided with arms 2| carrying a shaft 22, which is disposed in a bearing 22A in standard 23, which is an integral part of base 24.

Numeral 21 designates a lever, in general bellcrank formation pivotally mounted on arm 25, which is an integral part of standard 23, by shaft 25A carried in bearing 26. Thus it will be observed that the trolley pole and lever 21 are mounted on base 24 andcarried on independent pivotal centers disposed parallel and that they necessarily operate in the same vertical plane.

The lower arm of lever 21 is formed with an opening 210 to permit rod 4| to pass through and travel from a position shown in Figs. 1 and 7 to thatshown in Fig. 12. In each side of this aim is a bearing 21D to accommodate trunnions 29A, formed integrally with'collar 29. Although the weight of the parts carried by link 4| and the forces. exerted thereon tend to retain the trunnions in their component bearings, arms 21A are provided to function as a keeper for said trunnions. This lever is also formed with a pair of arms 21B providing bearings formed With the body of lever' 21. These bearings support 55 trunnions 28A of collar 28, shown to advantage in Fig. 7. Link A passes through this collar and is retained therein by nut USE. This link extends through aperture A of socket into the sleeve I9, passing through spring 15C and terminating in flanged nut I5D, which is slidably in said sleeve and embraces the end of the spring. Thus it will be noted that the spring pressure is applied to arms 2| which are pivoted to body 24, and that the pole [5 will be raised or lowered through the medium of intervening spring action according to the position of lever 21, and that when the latter is moved to and retained in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 7, by the electro-rnagnet, hereinafter explained in detail, the pole will be yieldingly held in the erected position as shown in said figures, and that when the pole is forced downwardly, such as happens when the trolley wheel .is traveling mounted on vertical auxiliary base 49, which is secured to base 42A. It should be noted that the contact elements are located within the influence of magnetic pole pieces 48, which are carried by insulation plates 48A and receive magnetic flux from core 41A, energized by coil 41B. Since magnetic blowout belongs to the earlier art and no claim is being directed to the principles of same, further detailed description of the incident structure is not necessary for an understanding of the operation. Lower cover 32B, attached to casing 32, is provided to protect the switch parts.

In Fig. 13 the same general structure and principle of a blowout switch is shown at the right hand side of the figure, however, the actuating switch lever 50 is pivoted on shaft 5|, which is mounted on switch base 52, which in turn is secured :to magnetic shell 32L on a low wire, the pole orients on shaft22 and compresses the spring between flanged nut 55D and perch I5E. If the pole were normally raised to the position indicated in Fig. ,11 land the trclley wheel brought into engagement with the trolley wire conductor the electro-magnet be:

comes energized and forces lever 2! ,to the position shown in either Fig, 1 or 7, thereby compressing the spring and placing the pole under tension, thus conditioning the locomotive. for operation.

Base 24 is pivotally mounted on head 39 and retained thereon by disc nut 3| which functions as a thrust collar, the assembly being designed so that the base 24 will freely rotate with the lateral forces imparted to it by the trolley pole as the trolley wheel follows the trolley wire when making turns or adjusting itself to any other differential that may develop between the locomotive and the trolley wire during course of travel. In Fig. 13, base 24I, head 3M and .discal thumb nut 3i l are shown with balls B intervening to provide a ball-bearing for reducing friction so that there will be less resistance offered to the trolley pole especially'when it is equipped with a shoe in place of the wheel.

In magnetic shell 32, solenoid 33 is mounted on a non-magnetic tube, 34, which in turn is secured to the shell by magnetic heads 3.5, 35-3, thus an electric magnet is provided for activating'magnetic plunger 31. The upper end of the plunger is secured a head 38 having a hole 39 formed therein with a generally concave bottom to receive link head '49 of link 4!, which connects with lever 21 through the medium of collar 29 held in place by nut 2C. At the lower end of cylinder 34 a magnetic head 42 is fixed therein. 32A is a mounting plate welded to shell 32, provided for attaching the actuator to a locomotive as indicated in Fig. 11; Disposed in the lower endof shell 32 and attached to head 42 is a blowout arc switch for introducing resistor R, Fig. 1-0. This switch is mounted on the lower side of head 42 and is activated by pin 43 slidably disposed therein and biased to the up position by spring 44. This pin is formed with the upper end extending for engagement with the lower face of the plunger 31, as shown in Figures 1 and 1 The former shows this pin after it has been moved to the down or open position for the switch contacts 45-46, while the latter shows the plunger at the top position i and the switch contacts closed. Movable contact element 45 is carried on bell .crank lever 45A which is pivotally mounted on bracket 45Bjwhich in turn is secured to base 42 withinsulating .discs 42A intervening. Fixed contact elements 46 is The shell has an aperture 54 in the wall thereof for receiving switch arm A. This arm extends to the interior of the shell and in the path of the projecting flange 38! of the magnetic head, which is secured to plunger 3', similarly to the structure shown in Fig. 12, and likewise operates at or near the end of the stroke of the plunger to introduce the resistor.

In Fig. 13, ,plunger 311 is shown in the operated position, that is when current is flowing through coil33l. The lower end of the plunger is shown in dotted lines as in engagement with magnetic head 421, the latter is fitted loosely into the lower end of non-magnetic tube 34l and normally rests on a circular block of rubber 342, which in turn is carried by head 55 secured to shell 32I. These parts are so arranged that the rubber serves as a buffer to minimize the shock incident to stopping plunger 3' on any overthrow. Likewise in the. top of the chamber a buffer 56, preferably made of leather, is provided to reduce the shock between the top of the plunger and the inside of the top head when there is a sudden interruption of current.

Since it is necessary to provide a clearance hole MB in base 24l to accommodate movement of connecting link 4 throughout the resultant movement of operation as shown in Fig. 12 for connecting link 4| of the other embodiment of this invention, water, whether it be from rain or condensation, travels to the interior of the actuator, i. e. inside of the shell. In time the said water would impair the solenoid and possibly other parts if it were permitted to remain encased, therefore ring 51 is fixed to the inner wall of casing 32! with the top surface in line with the lower edge of a series of drain holes 58 extending therethrough. In slidable relation with the plunger 31! is collar 59, which-is fixed to the ring and functions to prevent any water from flowing into the plunger bearing or seeping into the windings.

To provide for continued use of the actuator in the event the magnetic actuator becomes electrically incapacitated, head 38 has been formed with an annular groove 35A to receive the end of screw 320, which is threaded through the wall of shell 32, as shown in Fig. '2'. Obviously lever 21 can be manually forced down to the operating position by inserting a bar between the arms thereof, at which stage locking screw 320 is screwed intogroove 32A. With the actuator thus locked against movement, it can be used until repairs can be effected, even though the pole will not be automatically released from the upward thrust ment of parts described, it will be understood that the solenoid will be energized for its maximum power immediately upon engagement of the trolley wheel and the trolley conductor. As explained above, this arrangement is manually efiected. Co-incident with the solenoid reaching the end of its stroke, as shown in Figures 1, 7 and 13, and graphically in Fig. 10, the switch contacts 45, 46 are separated so that the current flow will be from trolley conductor P, wheel ll, wire I63, solenoid, resistor R to ground, instead of passing through the contacts, and contact arm, directly to ground. Obviously, the resistor reduces the current flow to any desired minimum, however, it must maintain suflicient magnetism to retain the plunger in its operated position against any force exerted by spring 15A.

I do not desire to be restricted to the specific embodiment of my invention herein shown and described since it is evident that it may be changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electrically operated vehicle, having in combination, a trolley conductor; a trolley pole pivotally secured to a base mounted on said vehicle; a current collector secured to the said pole; a lever fulcrumed on said base; a spring disposed between said pole and one arm of said lever for yieldingly retaining the collector in engagement with the said conductor when said spring is under tension; an electro-magnet associated with the other arm of said lever; said spring, when actuated by current flowing in said electro-magnet in response to contact engagement of the collector with the conductor operates the said electro-magnet and tensions said spring.

2'. Apparatus for retaining a trolley pole in operative position while the current collector thereof is in engagement with a trolley conductor, comprising, a solenoid having a magnetic shell, and a magnetic plunger; a base; a pole pivotally secured to the perimeter of said base; a lever havin one end thereof pivotally secured to the said base adjacent the pivot of the said pole; means connecting the free end of the said lever to the said plunger, and means resiliently connecting said pole to said lever adjacent the pivoted end thereof.

3. Apparatus for retaining a trolley pole in operative position while the current collector thereof is in engagement with a trolley conductor, comprising, a solenoid having a magnetic shell and a magnetic plunger; a base rotatably mounted on one end of the said shell having its pivotal axis substantially concentric with the axis of the said plunger; a pole pivotally secured to the said base remote from the axis of the said plunger; a bellcrank lever having its fulcrum pivotally secured to the said base intermediate the axis of the said plunger and the pivotal axis of the said pole; means resiliently connecting one arm of the said lever to the said pole; and means connecting the other arm of the said lever to the said plunger.

4. In an electrically operated vehicle, having in combination, a trolley conductor; a trolley pole pivotally secured to a base mounted on said vehicle; a current collector secured to the said pole; a bell crank lever pivoted to said base; a spring disposed between said pole and an arm of said lever for yieldingly retaining the collector in engagement with the said conductor when said spring is under tension; an electro-magnet having a plunger connected to the other arm of the said lever; a stop for said plunger; said plunger when operated by current flowing in said electro-magnet in response to contact engagement of the collector with the conductor operates the said electro-magnet and forces said plunger against said stop, thereby placing said spring under tension.

THOMAS E. DAVIES. 

